


do you see what I see?

by edenwrites



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [1]
Category: Santa Clause (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:20:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21725155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edenwrites/pseuds/edenwrites
Summary: November chaos. Bernard forgets to eat. More chaos ensues.
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1565845
Comments: 6
Kudos: 50





	do you see what I see?

**Author's Note:**

> song title from: do you hear what I hear?
> 
> this fic has themes of forgetting to eat and fainting. if this is a trigger for you then I suggest turning away now. 
> 
> enjoy.

It was November and the whole workshop was in chaos. The elves in the cooking department lost all the recipes for the gingerbread, the cocoa, everything. The elves in the Reindeer department had upset them somehow, making the Reindeer uncooperative with anyone. The elves in the wrapping department had managed to jam up the conveyor belt and get some of the presents damaged. 

This was just one big headache for Bernard. The Head Elf could hardly catch a break with almost every department in the workshop breaking down every five minutes. This also meant he was forgetting to eat, what with the workshop in disarray and the work he already had on top of that, it was impossible to remember to place "eating a proper meal" or "have a snack" at the top of his list. 

Of course, this lead to Bernard becoming increasingly tired and even more stressed than usual. The tiny tremors that rattled his small body was not normal, even if he lived at the North Pole. 

The dark haired elf was also becoming more snappy and agitated towards all the elves. Including Curtis. Didn't have the gracious patience he had with the elves, except for Scott. Everyone was taking notice of how the elf's clothes were looking too baggy, his face was almost gaunt and weary looking. 

All it took was one moment. One moment for it to all come to light. 

There was another incident in the wrapping department that Bernard was trying to help with, really he was, but he felt so tired and no one was listening and sleep sounded so good right now. He could feel himself start to crack.

"Does anyone here have the audacity to listen to me anymore?" Bernard snapped.

All the elves in the workshop paused and went quiet. 

"I mean seriously, we have not even a MONTH until Christmas and everyone is messing up. Are you all trying to ruin Christmas?" 

He looked around and they all shook their heads at him, but there was one voice that made its way through the fog in his head.

"Give them a break, Bernard. Everyone messes up sometimes." 

The tall elf turned on his heel slowly to see Santa standing behind him with his arms crossed, a small frown pinched his face. 

And suddenly, all the fight left his body and his focus wavered as Scott was speaking. Everything sounded muffled. All that could come out of his was, "I'm sorry." 

It was small and weak sounding, even to himself, but it was there. The next thing anyone knew, Bernard's eyes rolled backwards and his body crumpled sideways.

All the elves gasped and could only look on as Scott caught his frail body in his arms. Curtis heard the commotion from outside and immediately ran in the workshop, only to see Bernard's limp form in Santa's arms. 

He gasped and ran as fast as his legs could carry him to fall in step with the red suited man. Once they were in Bernard's room, Curtis spoke up. 

"What happened to him?" Curtis mumbled. His voice was low to try to not disturb Bernard. 

"I'll go get the doctor." He stood up and made his way to the doctor's department, not even waiting for Santa to reply.

"Yeah..." Scott's voice was distant. He barely registered Curtis leaving the room and coming back with the doctor. 

The doctor made his way to Bernard's body and made an examination. A few minutes later he spoke up, "It seems Bernard hasn't been eating. His body is displaying signs of severely high stress levels. I suggest keeping him on bed rest for about a week, until his body recovers from the stress it's been put under. Although, good luck trying to keep him in bed long enough for that." The elf chuckled softly.

"Thanks doc. We'll make sure he recovers well." Curtis promised, a determined look on his small face. 

Scott chuckled at the sight and agreed with Curtis. 

"If anything else should happen, don't hesitate to come and get me." With two nods from Santa and Curtis, the doctor left the room, silently shutting the door behind him.

It took a few hours. A few hours of pacing. Shaking a knee up and down repeatedly. Worried glances. Shaky breaths. Silent "it's my fault" in the air. Til Bernard woke up. 

"Ugh. My head feels like a ball of tinsel," He mumbled. He looked around for a few moments, his eyes taking a while to adjust. "Hey. What are you two doing here? What am I doing here? I was meant to be at the wrapping department.." 

It was clear the Head Elf was working himself up again, so Scott sat down next to him on the edge of the bed, and spoke softly, "Hey hey don't worry. Curtis had it all covered while you were sleeping, and it was -" 

"Sleeping! The name of Christmas was I doing sleeping? I haven't slept since..." 

"Since?" Scott raised an eyebrow into his hairline. 

"Since yesterday?" Bernard tried. 

"Bernard..." 

"Okay okay. I haven't slept properly since a few days ago and eating the same time as that." 

Two collective sighs were heard throughout the room. 

"But why would you let that happen?" Curtis' small voice rang out in the room. 

"Because I was too busy. The workshop was in complete disarray. I had my other duties to take care of. I didn't really think about sleeping and eating. Just getting the jobs done ready for Christmas." 

"It's my fault, I didn't see what was happening to you." Bernard looked at his boss in complete disbelief. 

"No it's mine. I should've done more as Number Two Elf." Then he looked at Curtis in disbelief. Why were these idiots saying these things? 

"Okay! Okay! Hold on a second here. It's no one's fault but my own. No one's. I don't want to hear you two blaming yourselves for things that weren't yours to control or look after. Alright?" Scott and Curtis hung their heads and agreed with Bernard. 

"Good. Now I'm going to head out of here and get back to work." At this, they both jumped up and pushed Bernard back onto his bed. 

"The doc said best rest for a week. And you're going to be stocked up on food as well." Santa said.

"Aha. Aha. Aha..." He looked at both their faces, "You're not serious? Please I have a job to do. Who's going to look after the workshop?" He cried. 

"Curtis will." Said elf nodded and smiled slightly. "Focus on getting better first. Work later." The elf said and walked out of the room, leaving Santa and Bernard alone.

If anyone were to know what happened the rest of the night. Well... Only that Bernard is a nightmare to try and make rest. But we already knew that, didn't we?

**Author's Note:**

> soooooooo what did you think?? I was so nervous to write and publish this but my friend on Tumblr convinced me so here we are. 
> 
> be sure to look out for more my dudes.


End file.
